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Artifact Details

Title

Tinkertoy Computer

Catalog Number

102622932

Type

Still Image

Date

1980 ca.

Identifying Numbers

other number

LB 101393 - copy

Verso

Dimensions

8 x 10 in.

Description

Black and white image of Tinkertoy computer with Danny Hillis, Brian Sillverman and Margaret Minsky. Even sticks and pulleys can be used to compute. The rules require to play tic tac toe are here built into 10,000 wooden parts, fishing lines and sinkers and brass pins. The wooden parts were taken from some 500 boxes of Tinker Toys. The nine green flags on the front of the machine show the current positions: Down: empty Left : X right : O The human player moves one flag to make his move. Then mechanical linkages cause the machine to respond instantly with its reply. The machine never loses, but played unreliably in practice because the fishing line tended to loosen and slip.